"The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, foryour dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty everyday, and if you can source your life from God’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the moon, “YES!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”

10 Life Changing Tips Inspired By Rumi

Here are ten life changing tips inspired by quotes from the great Sufi poet, Rumi:

1. Challenge Fear"Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious."

2. Be Bold"Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth."

3. Have Gratitude"Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life."

4. Take Action"Why should I stay at the bottom of a well, when a strong rope is in my hand?"

5. Have Faith"As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears."

6. Embrace Setbacks"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?"

7. Look Inside"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."

8. Learn From Suffering"The wound is the place where the Light enters you."

9. Don't Be Concerned With What Others Think Of You"I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think."

10. Do What You Love "Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love."